Alumni Stories
Tags: December 2023, Vol. 4, Issue 1
Sevval Ogutcu
Sevval Ogutcu graduated from the Bachelor of Social Science - Criminal Justice (CJ) program in April 2023. Sevval describes her experience at Humber College as fulfilling and remarkable: “What I mean by this is that it expanded my knowledge of the Criminal Justice System in Canada but also enlightened me to use my life experiences as a tool.” Sevval was born and raised in Turkey, but she moved to Canada in late 2017 after the Turkish Constitutional Referendum. Sevval notes that though she went through many traumatic experiences back home, Humber College taught her how to use these experiences as a tool in her research. “Coming from a culture that values men more than women motivated me to conduct my thesis about sexual violence against women,” says Sevval. “Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, sexual assault against women has dramatically increased. I wanted to underline the issues behind sexual violence and its correlation with the pandemic.” Sevval co-authored a thesis paper on gender roles, the pandemic’s stress factors, and the lack of support for women within our society - she and her co-author, Izabella Dulinska, were later given the opportunity to present their work at the Social Innovation Spring workshop at Humber College. This success encouraged Sevval to expand her research within the criminal justice system. Sevval is currently pursuing her master’s in criminology and social justice studies at Toronto Metropolitan University and hoping to pursue a career in policing, specifically in investigation and detective work.
